The present invention relates to carts, and more particularly to a cart that is intended for use in hiking, camping, and the like, to facilitate the transportation of relatively heavy loads over narrow trials and over rough terrain.
The popularity of hiking and camping and the availability of backpacks for enhancing the comfort of trips into the mountains and other recreational areas emphasize the problems of transporting supplies into remote rugged areas over narrow trails and rough terrains. The common practice is to carry all such supplies in backpacks, and those backpacks have been improved to the extent that they support larger loads and are organized to carry the essentials for camping. However, the weight of the supplies supported by the hikers remains burdensome and significantly constitutes a restriction on the distances that a user may be able to travel with a given load in a given period of time.
The rough terrain cart disclosed by Barrus in U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,405 discloses a cart for one one or two hikers having a double elongated aluminum tubular frame with two pairs of handles for allowing one or two hikers to transport their backpacks by pushing and pulling the device. The cart described by Crossman and McLaughlin in U.S. Pat. No. 363,585, and the cart described by Curran and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,807 all share many similar features disclosed by Barrus and would consequently suffer many of the same disadvantages when using the device. The Barrus disclosure suffers the same disadvantage described in the Smith device in that it is silent with regards to shoulder pads and as a result of using the Barrus device, the users must push or pull the load with their hands. As a consequence, the use of the Barrus device is likely to cause the users to develop hand and arm muscle sprains. Furthermore, because control is exclusively associated with the use of the hands, the Barrus device may also produce carpal tunnel syndrome at the hands, wrist and elbows. Even further, because the Barrus device employs only handgrips, then use of the Barrus device over rough terrain is likely to cause back sprains brought about by the requisite back bending in using the Barrus device.
The one man carrier and back pack described by Wilkerson et al in U.S. Pat No. 5,820,141 discloses a collapsible carrier having an inflatable roller assembly for transporting loads over rough terrain by providing a pair of handles for either pushing or pulling the loaded cart. Use of the the Wilkerson device would likely result in many of the above mentioned disadvantages, such as developing hand, wrist, and arm muscle strain as well as possibly causing or aggravating carpal tunnel syndrome.
The combined wheel and pack carrier described by Tracy et al in U.S. Pat. No. 3,560,015 discloses a wheelbarrow device for moving a load attached to the device. The Tracy device may be readily detachably secured to the back of a user for pack carrying. The Tracy device is silent with regards to shoulder pads which allow the user to pull the device, and as a consequence the Tracy device suffers from many of the above mentioned disadvantages. Furthermore, if the Tracy device is used as a pulling device, the user would likely not be able to easily control the device because the Tracy device would be entirely behind the user.
While all of the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a bent portion in the cart frame which can be used to place a portion of the load burden on to the shoulders of the users. Nor do any of the aforementioned patents explicitly suggest or implicitly suggest the a cart having shoulder pads which allow the user to comfortably engage the cart so that the user can pull the cart in an upright position. Furthermore, non of the aforementioned patents suggest or imply a downward bent portion in the front section of the frame which can accommodate the user""s shoulders while pulling the cart.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved cart that can be used for pulling a cart while engaging a user""s shoulders with the cart so that the user may be able to comfortably transport loads attached to the cart. In this respect, the cart according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of allowing a user to control a cart by pulling the cart while engaging a portion of the cart over the user""s shoulders and having handgrips in front of the user.
In accordance with this invention a cart that is capable of pulling loads over rough terrain is described. The cart comprises a frame composed of two side members attached together by a a base platform in which at least one wheel is attached to the distal ends of the two side members. Each of the two side members are designed to form an downward bent distal end at the rearward section in which the at least one wheel is attached. Also each of the two side members have an upward bent portion at the middle section which raises the middle section to approximately the level of the shoulder height of the user. Finally each of the two side members have a downward S bent portion at the forward section which is intended to fit over the user""s shoulder so that the weight of the load mounted on the base platform may be partially balanced over the user""s shoulders. Attached to each side members are a pair of hand grips and a pair of shoulder pads which afford the user a means of pulling the cart.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known type carts now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved cart, which will be described subsequently in great detail, is to provide a new and improved cart which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a cart which comprises a frame composed of two side members attached together by a base platform in which at least one wheel is attached to the distal ends of the two side members. Each of the two side members are designed to form an downward bent distal end at the rearward section in which the at least one wheel is attached. Also each of the two side members have an upward bent portion at the middle section which raises the middle section to approximately the level of the shoulder height of the user. Finally each of the two side members have a downward bent portion at the forward section which is intended to fit over the user""s shoulder so that the weight of the load mounted on the base platform may be partially balanced over the user""s shoulders.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution of the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also include a kickstand, a brake system, a back rest, a speedometer and an odometer. There are of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved cart that has all the advantages of the prior art cart and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved cart that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved cart that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such multipurpose storage unit and system economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new cart that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a cart for allowing a user to distribute a portion of the burden of a load onto the user""s shoulders. This makes it possible to allow a user to transport loads in a comfortable manner in which the user is able to shift the burden of pulling the load onto the user""s shoulders.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a cart with shoulder pads. This makes it possible to afford a user a comfortable means of bearing the burden of pulling the load over the user""s shoulders.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cart with shoulder pads that can be used to place a portion of the burden of a load onto the user""s shoulder. This makes it possible for the user to employ the user""s shoulders and upper torso while pulling the cart. Thereby allowing the user to develop and increase and enhance the user""s upper torso body strength.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.